Internal marketing - inspire the team

The once additional "fifth P" (people) is now the most important marketing instrument. Without employees, even the classic four marketing instruments (product, price, place and promotion) cannot develop their full effect. This means that internal marketing and employer branding are of central importance.

As a partner in a full-service advertising agency, I recently analyzed our success factors. Customer feedback brings them to light: it is the long-standing and motivated employees who contribute to our success through their passionate commitment to creative solutions. Customers thank us for this with their continued loyalty.

Professional in-house marketing is needed to make the "people" marketing tool a success. This includes the selection, training and motivation of employees. The following six tips serve as a guide and checklist for the design of internal marketing:

Hire the right people

Define what skills your employees should have. Hire the right people. And use their strengths. Jim Collins describes the process very aptly: "First: Get the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus. Second: Get the right people in the right seats on the bus."

Motivate employees

Motivate your employees and take care of their satisfaction. This keeps staff turnover low and has an indirect effect on higher customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Promote employees

Support and train your employees regularly. Only employees with up-to-date know-how and social skills will be able to meet your requirements.

Employee planning

Define how your employees should be integrated into the company and how they should be treated. This includes employee planning and guidelines on employee rewards.

Analyze customer needs

Promote a marketing mindset within the company and sensitize employees in all departments to customer needs.

Exceeding customer needs

"Going the extra mile" - offering customers unexpected added value should be an important guiding principle in every company. Think about how your employees can exceed customer expectations.

Successful internal marketing is only possible if the defined corporate culture is lived. This includes all employees demonstrating their passion for their work in a positive way. The spark, i.e. the feu sacré, must be passed on to customers. The passion must be contagious, because customers prefer to buy from people they like.

Ultimately, customers will pass on their enthusiasm with positive feedback on social media platforms and by word of mouth. This is the reward for the passionate commitment of your employees - supported by professional internal marketing.